


Shades of Blue

by NikkiTe



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, makoto needs to be loved, sousuke is firm on the outside tender on the inside
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-05
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-02-28 00:03:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2711606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikkiTe/pseuds/NikkiTe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Updated summary as of April 2017) </p><p>Makoto goes out in search for a university and ends up getting lost in an unknown city. For someone who has never left Iwatobi, going to Tokyo is a huge challenge that has him scrambling to gain his bearings.</p><p>Thankfully a familiar face shows up to help him. </p><p>--</p><p>Happens sometime within the anime. We never really got any details as to how Makoto found his university in Tokyo, and I'm hoping to work on this angle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Notes: this is just the prologue so I hope you're not disappointed with the length :) let's have fun with Sousuke and Makoto in the coming chapters :)

 

~~~~~

A crown of olive green hair stood out among the sea of suits and black hair in the bustling train station. Makoto was tall. But even with his height, there was no way a country boy like him could easily navigate his way around the train station as soon as he stepped off the bullet train. It had felt surreal. When he booked the ticket to Tokyo, his hands were shaking and he could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest. When he had taken the train this morning, one could only imagine how nervous he was.

His hands were shaking the whole two hours he was on the train. He couldn't even admire the beautiful view of Mt Fuji outside the window as they passed it by. He hadn't eaten breakfast, and he was not in any mood to drink anything. 

He had taken the first step for his future. It wasn't sure yet. It was actually just one of the options he was looking into. He had never taught children before, nor had he ever tried coaching before. But the guidance counselor at school had looked at his aptitude test and had advised him to look into courses that included coaching or teaching. He seemed to be more suited for those kinds of jobs. The kindly old professor had given him a list of schools he could check out before applying for them. 

One of those schools in that list was Waseda University, and it was located in Tokyo. Daring to explore the unknown, Makoto had booked a train ticket to Tokyo via the bullet train. He wanted to try and see the university and to check out the other courses they had. 

Of course, he never expected Tokyo to be such a maze!

He had just taken one step off the train and on to the platform and already, a sea of men and women rushing about started to overwhelm him. 

With one hand gripping the strap of his backpack, and another desperately clutching on to the printed out map, Makoto walked on ahead and into the sea of rushing people. 

He was tall, and that was his advantage. He could see over other people. But it really didn't help when he didn't know where he was going or which train he needed to get on. Tokyo station was HUGE. There were at least 10 trains running on one end and another 10 on the other, all going in different directions. Not only that, he kept seeing directions going to other train stations that were connected to Tokyo Station. 

He felt too embarrassed to ask for directions. Everyone looked so busy that he didn't have the heart to stop them and ask. 

So he tried his best to locate the local train he needed to get on to get to the school. 

"Yamanote ... Yamanote...Ah Yamanote!" his deep green eyes brightened up when he saw the sign that indicated the train he was supposed to take. 

He rushed towards it, excited and happy. But before he could even check if this was the right direction for the train he was taking, he was suddenly swept in by the rushing crowd around him. There were so many people that going against the flow was near impossible for a first timer like Makoto. 

"Ah...sorry... um wait!" he gasped as he was pushed in. But it was of no use. Before he could check or alight, the doors had closed and he was pushed back to the middle part of the train. "Mou..." he mumbled softly, feeling dejected. He really shouldn't have come here alone. He felt tired, and slightly lost. But this was something he had to do.

He leaned back against the cool wal of the train. He seemed to have no choice anyway since he was pressed against it by the crowd that had unceremoniously pushed him into the train anyway.

Just as he was about to close his eyes to take a breather, he heard a voice that made his heart almost stop.

"What's a country boy like you doing here?" 

Makoto froze where he was. Then, after what felt like forever (but really was just a couple of seconds) he turned to look into the general direction of the voice.

There seated right beside the wall he was leaning on, was a boy he knew. He met him a few times, two times if he could remember properly. He never got the chance to talk to him either. But those intense teal eyes are eyes he just couldn't easily forget.

"Yama.. Yamazaki kun?" He wasn't even aware of how his voice cracked slightly. He was nervous and now even more so because now Sousuke was here, on the same train, in Tokyo. 

He felt an inner panic rise in his throat. This trip was supposed to be a secret from everyone. No one was supposed to know that he was even considering Tokyo as one of his options for university.

Those teal eyes looked at him, unblinking, and seemingly uncaring. 

Then Makoto remembered to answer. 

"Ah... Um... I ..." He stammered. He couldn't even answer. How could he? He couldn't just say that he was looking for a university here. He wasn't friends with Sousuke. But Sousuke is Rin's best friend and if he knew then the chances of Haru knowing would increase exponentially. 

Sousuke clicked his tongue in slight annoyance. It seemed Makoto wasn't going to tell him anything. "Where are you going?" He asked instead.

Makoto fumbled with the crumpled piece of paper in his hand and almost dropped it to the floor. But he managed to hold on to it. "Um... Waseda station," his voice was meek and just listening to it you could hear the uncertainty in his voice. 

Sousuke's eyes remained unchanging as he stood up. 

"Then get out. You're on the wrong train," he muttered as he exited the train. He didn't even turn around to check if Makoto was following or if Makoto had even heard what he said.

But Makoto heard just fine. He pushed himsef off the wall and said "sorry excuse me" to everyone he bumped into as he forced himself out of the train and out into the platform again. 

"Are the trains always this crowded?" He asked as he looked at Sousuke as soon as he felt his feet touch solid ground again. 

"It's no place for a country boy like you."

Makoto let out a soft laugh as Sousuke repeated that. Sousuke wasn't even checking or waiting for him. He had to jog a bit to catch up to Sousuke. "What about you? Aren't you a country boy just like me?" He asked as soon as he had caught up.

Sousuke paused and turned to look at Makoto as if he had asked the stupidest question. 

"I live here."

"Ehhh?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's not expect a lot yet, since they barely know each other at this point. But let's slowly get our two boys closer shall we? A word here a word there, and pretty soon they'll be all over each other (someday) :D 
> 
> Also, if Sousuke did warm up to Makoto tooooo easily, that would be slightly ooc right there wouldn't it? Let's keep Mr Grumpy grumpy for a while longer before he falls head over heels for our resident angel <3
> 
> Oh and yeah I know Waseda university isn't on the Yamanote, and I do not really know if they even have a swim club. Just picked out the school where my school is closest too and the Yamanote is one of the most well known train lines here in Tokyo so yeah ^^
> 
> Comments give me life <3 Critiques are very much welcome. I haven't written anything in so long and I know my writing sucks right now, so give me critiques too so I can improve again :D

Makoto really didn't know where to put his thoughts. I mean sure, he wasn't really close with Sousuke. But he had thought that Sousuke lived in Iwatobi. He knew he stayed in the dorms with Rin, but at the same time he also knew from Gou that Sousuke lived close to Rin's place. Did that mean that Iwatobi was just his hometown? Or would that be Tokyo?

Makoto sighed as he sorted through the information in his head. But he couldn't let his thoughts wander for even a moment. He could easily catch up to Sousuke on a normal day yes, but in the crowded station, it was really easy to lose him even if he was 6 feet tall. Sousuke was really really good at weaving in and out of the crowd while Makoto just kept apologizing to every person he bumped into. 

Sousuke never once looked back over his shoulder, and Makoto worried that if he got lost here he probably didn't stand a chance of finding Sousuke (or his train) anyway. 

Clutching the already crumpled map in his hand, he weaved in and out of the crowd. He ignored the announcements blaring over the loud crowd chatter, since he didn't really need to listen to them right now.

Finally, after what seemed like forever weaving in and out of the crowded station, Sousuke finally stopped and Makoto had the self awareness to stop before he bumped into his back. 

"Take this train," Sousuke muttered as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn't even bat an eyelash at Makoto. He just knew he was there. There was no need to check. 

Makoto nodded and looked around feebly. There was no way he could have found this platform. He was so lost and nervous and if it wasn't for Sousuke the chances of him ending up in some unknown area was too high.

This time Sousuke finally looked at Makoto and he saw that lost look in Makoto's eyes that made the other 6 foot tall swimmer look like a lost puppy  
Sousuke sighed and shook his head. "The train's here," he said. Even if they weren't close, how could he leave Makoto when the other looked so tiny in this crazy city. His expression showed none of this though. 

Makoto looked up at Sousuke and nodded. He followed him into the train and leaned back against the wall. "You don't have to come with me," he said softly. He hated to be an inconvenience to anyone. Sousuke had already led him here, there was no need for him to go with him all the way.

"Why? Is Nanase's hatred for me contagious?"

Makoto snapped his gaze back up and shook his head quickly.

"Then there's no reason for me not to go with you."

Makoto opened his lips to speak. But then shut it again when no words came out from his lips. In the end he finally pursed his lips and looked down at the ground. 

Sousuke spared him a side glance in silence. And when it was obvious that Makoto was not speaking anymore, Sousuke spoke. "Why are you heading to Waseda?" It was a simple question. But it was laced with underlying questions. Why was he here, why was he alone, why was he visiting a university in Tokyo of all places, why was he visiting a university, and the heaviest underlying question of all was, why wasn't Nanase with him. 

Makoto didn't answer. So Sousuke pressed further. "There's nothing else there except that damn university."

Makoto worried his lower lip as he stared out of the train window. There was no hiding it. There was no harm to answering that question if it was Sousuke. It wasn't like Sousuke was close enough to Haru to spill the beans on him. So he answered with, "I'm just going there to check their courses."

"Waseda has a suckier than crap swim team last I checked."

Makoto took a deep breath as Sousuke seemed to press on. "I'm just checking the courses." I probably won't swim in college. But Makoto didn't say that. No one knew, not even Haru. No one knew the self doubt that was forming in his heart since their last relay with Rin. Rin and Haru seemed to be made for each other, they seemed to be made to make each other better. All this time it had always been Makoto and Haru. He had always been with his best friend, always there to help and support him when needed. But it seemed that it was all limited to everything other than swimming. There was no way he could even come close to that unique relationship between Rin and Haru. 

Sousuke looked at Makoto as the slightly shorter boy seemed to lose himself in thought. And Sousuke kept that silence, taking that half assed answer as an answer for now. He wasn't close to any of the Iwatobi boys, nor was he in any way acquainted with Makoto. But Makoto had looked so lost that he didn't want to leave him there in the maze that was Tokyo station. The voice at the back of his head told him to just leave Makoto alone, that he had just looked for a pain in the ass. But he just couldn't. Not when Makoto looked like a kicked and lost puppy. 

They stayed in this awkward silence as the train moved on and on, stopping at every station. When they did get close to their station, the crowd inside the train had finally thinned out enough to enable them to move around a bit. 

The relief was short lived though, as soon enough, the train finally stopped at Waseda. "We're here," Sousuke said, snapping Makoto out of his thoughts. 

Makoto blinked, realizing only now that he had spaced out. "Ah... we are?"

Sousuke spared him a look. "Really now," he muttered. How could Makoto not even hear the announcements? If he had left him on this train, there was a good chance he would have ended all the way to Chiba or Yokohama. He muttered something under his breath as he grabbed Makoto's hand and pulled him off the train and on to the platform. 

Makoto let out a soft yelp as he was suddenly grabbed and pulled out of the train. He was so lost in his thought really that he didn't even notice that they were here. Thinking about Haru did that sometimes. Well, did that all the time. Whenever he thought about it, it just made him want to hug his best friend and never let him go. 

And it was obvious that he was thinking about a touchy subject. It was written all over his face, and Sousuke could see it clearly even if he didn't know Makoto personally. 

Giving a soft grunt, Sousuke turned his heel and tugged Makoto along. "It's over here," he muttered as they walked. Only when he was sure that Makoto was finished spacing out did he let go of the Iwatobi captain's hand and allowed him to follow him freely.

They walked out of the station in silence. Makoto had stuffed the printed out map in his pockets by now, since he didn't need it with Sousuke around. But it was a cute sight to behold really, because Makoto was following Sousuke like a child who was lost in the mall and was being led around by a responsible adult, back to his parents. It was cute, if only for their size. Because Makoto was just slightly shorter, yet he looked like such a lost child following Sousuke around. 

Sousuke appreciated the silence. It gave him time to think about his own problems. Whatever he thought of, his thoughts just drifted over to his shoulder. He let out a loud sigh as he thought about it, only to be surprised when he saw Makoto jump slightly. It was only in his periphery, but he was sure Makoto jumped a bit. 

"Oi, I'm not gonna bite you," he muttered, slightly annoyed. Why was Makoto so skittish?

"Ah sorry," Makoto apologized quickly and Sousuke just clicked his tongue in an annoyed manner.

"You're afraid of me." It wasn't a question.

Makoto quickly shook his head and tugged his backpack closer. "I'm just nervous, it's not your fault Yamazaki kun."

Sousuke didn't buy it one bit. But he let it go. There was no point in arguing with this boy since they probably wouldn't cross paths again anyway. This was just a chance encounter and these things don't happen very often. Other than that, there was no way Samezuka and Iwatobi would willingly cross paths again outside of swimming. Rin was the only exception to that rule. 

Sousuke sighed softly and they continued walking in silence. The 15 minute walk from the station felt like an hour long walk because of the uncomfortable silence. So when they got there, Sousuke actually felt relieved. He turned to Makoto and said, "There's no way you'll get lost here anymore. Just go straight and the registrar is over there."

Makoto nodded and walked past Sousuke. But before he went on ahead, he turned around and gave Sousuke his warmest smile, as he said, "Thank you for showing me the way Yamazaki kun," he said happily, before turning heel and then running inside to go to the registrar. Makoto didn't wait for Sousuke's response, nor did he wait for any kind of reply. He just ran inside, happy to finally find the place he had intended to go to. Besides, he didn't want to give Sousuke any more trouble by taking up more of his time.

He went inside the building and went straight to the registrar. Good thing it was just as Sousuke said, just up straight. If it wasn't, Makoto was worried he would get lost again. With a jump in his step, he went straight to the registrars and did what he came here to do. He got the brochures for the different courses that included physical therapy and coaching. He also took some brochures on children's education as well as physical education. At this point, he really didn't have any direction. He was just taking brochures so he could review them at home and think about what direction his life should take after high school. He also checked the requirements, and got a copy of the application form. He would fill this out slowly when he was decided on his course. 

After Makoto had gathered everything, he inserted them evenly into his backpack. As he was about to leave however, the lady at the registrar called his attention. 

"Tachibana kun?" she called to him.

Makoto was all smiles as he turned back to her. "Yes? Did I forget anything?"

She shook her head at the question. "You didn't," she assured him. "But if you're interested, you may want to check the school grounds since you're already here," she said as she handed him a map of the school. 

Makoto nodded and took the map into his hands. "Thank you!" he said happily. He walked away from the registrars, map in hand, and began to explore the university. His steps took him to the library first, then to the auditorium, and he even passed by some of the laboratories and classrooms. He left the sports areas last. He didn't want to pass by the pool especially since it would only bring a desire to swim even when he didn't have any future with it. 

So it was half an hour later when he passed by the tennis courts and the outdoor fields. It seemed like a nice campus too, spacious with just the right amount of trees and rooms. He was smiling a bit as he ended up at the last spot on the map. Apparently the university had a gym too. 

Thinking that he probably won't have any exercise when college rolled in, Makoto decided to look even though he never tried hitting the gym at all before, ever. He didn't dare enter the room though, since he didn't know what to do if he did. So he peeked in through the windows. 

Honestly, a 6 foot swimmer, peeking in through the windows, anyone with eyes would have spotted him from there. 

Makoto looked at all the daunting machines and sighed softly. There was no way he would be able to use any of them. Maybe he should just settle for a different form of exercise when he finally stopped swimming. As he was about to turn away however, his eyes settled on to a certain raven haired guy, sitting on one of the machines and flexing those biceps as he worked that machine effortlessly. 

Said man was wearing a black tank top that was half drenched in sweat, accentuating the pectoral and abdominal muscles they were clinging on to. 

Makoto didn't realize how long he was staring. And only stopped when he realized... that he was staring at Yamazaki Sousuke.

And the only reason he realized was because Sousuke's teal eyes were staring right back at him. And despite his chest heaving from exertion, Makoto was SURE that Sousuke had stopped exercising at this point. 

Makoto stood rooted in place for a while. And when the silence around him was broken by another man entering the gym, Makoto's cheeks flushed red and he promptly turned tail and ran out of that building. 

"How embarrassing!" he whined. He had stared at Sousuke. And Sousuke had caught him STARING. Makoto's blush promptly returned and he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Why did I have to stare?!" he whimpered as he leaned against the wall. He really should leave. There was no telling what Sousuke might do. Would he punch him? Would he find him strange? He has seen Sousuke half naked during their rare joint practice session. But he didn't stare because he had other things to worry about (like Haru, and Nagisa). He wasn't even supposed to meet him during this trip at all!

"Great going Makoto," he murmured to himself as he finally managed to get his blush under control somehow. It was now just limited to his cheeks unlike earlier when it reached all the way up to his ears and down his neck. "He's probably gonna think you're a perv," he muttered as he continued walking now. He should really go home. It was getting late, and he didn't want the slim chance of Haru finding out he made this trip. He didn't want to tell Haru until he was all decided after all. So he should get going or else he would miss the bullet train back to Iwatobi.

He sighed to himself as he started walking through the halls and was supposed to walk out of the building. Supposed to. Because when he got near the entrance, he saw a huge crowd had gathered because the sky chose this very moment to douse the earth with a plentiful amount of rain. 

"Can my luck get any worse?" Makoto whimpered as he buried his face into his hands. 

"Probably not."

Whereas before, he wasn't sure if Makoto jumped, this time Sousuke was sure that Makoto at least jumped a few centimeters off the ground. 

"Seriously, I am not going to bite," Sousuke muttered as he pulled out an umbrella. "Are you coming or not?"

Makoto couldn't answer. He had to wait until his mini heart attack had passed before he could even breathe. Sousuke regarded him with a cool gaze. Again those teal eyes seemed to regard him carefully, assessing him somehow, and Makoto could feel Sousuke reading him. "But gym... why.... you are...." Makoto stammered, unable to piece things together properly because he was still in his state of shock. 

Sousuke shrugged. And Makoto could see that he had changed out of his tank top. Did he finish gym already?

"I heard the rain's gonna get worse, so I wanted to leave before it got worse," Sousuke answered coolly.

"But Waseda..."

"I always come here to use their amenities when I'm in Tokyo, I can use it for free because of my dad's business," Sousuke said. He just said it so Makoto would stop asking questions. "Now can we go? I don't want it to get worse, this umbrella's not made for strong rains." 

Makoto sighed softly and nodded. He had no choice right now after all. And with that, he left the university by Sousuke's side. Two tall and muscled swimmers, walking side by side in the rain, sheltered only by a small fold-able umbrella. 

It was funny when Makoto thought about it. But it also felt nice to know that somehow Sousuke wasn't as cold as he seemed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I've been gone for a LONG time. I'm sorry for the hiatus but this fanfic isn't abandoned. Life just happened ;A; 
> 
> I'm so sorry for the wait. I'll try to update this as often as I can.

The rain, bad as it was, didn't seem to be the only problem Makoto had to face that rainy afternoon.

And really he wouldn't have been able to tell if Sousuke hadn't directed his attention to it. 

The umbrella had been a good gesture, and Sousuke walking with him meant that Makoto took the shortest possible route to the train station. Sousuke walking with him also meant that Makoto wouldn't miss his train. 

But most importantly, as Makoto realized later, Sousuke walking with him meant that he didn't stay in the train station for hours waiting for a train that wouldn't come. 

"It says that there was an emergency that has all the bullet trains stopped for now."

"I can read the announcement signs Yamazaki kun," Makoto said with a sigh. 

 Out of Makoto's peripheral vision, Sousuke raised his eyebrow. "You were walking towards the platform until I stopped you."

Sousuke swore he saw the blooming red color on Makoto's cheeks. It was so easy to surprise him and make him blush, he realized. 

"You're not even going to deny that, are you?"

"I was tired..."

Sousuke sighed and shrugged. "Fine. But they're not sure when the trains will start up again."

"Eh?!" 

Sousuke sighed again and pointed at another announcement posted in a different area. "They have two announcements. You missed the second one completely."

The blush on Makoto's cheeks darkened considerably. However, Sousuke couldn't feel amused at that because Makoto quickly buried his face into his hands. Poor guy was obviously embarrassed. 

"Oh no...what do I do? We have practice tomorrow morning and I can't not be there, the team will..."

Sousuke clicked his tongue and that got Makoto's attention. "The trip isn't that long. Take the first train tomorrow morning and you'll be fine. I do that all the time and I still make it to morning practice. Well... used to."

That seemed to kick Makoto back into mother hen mode. His own embarrassment completely replaced by this... pity or concern, whatever it was. "Yamazaki kun...I'm so sorry I didn't mean to..."

"You did nothing," Sousuke said quickly and shrugged again. "You can't stay here for the night. There's no comfortable place for you to stay here. Better come and stay over. I have a spare room you can borrow." 

Makoto blinked and stared at Sousuke until Sousuke started to imagine that he was growing another head.

“What?” he snapped as Makoto continued staring at him.

“Are you… “ Makoto bit his lip, hesitating to continue, unsure if he was reading the question right. “Are you asking me to stay the night?”

Sousuke turned on his heel. “Unless you’d rather stay here and end up with a stiff neck in the morning, be my guest,” he said as he started walking towards the station exit.

He heard a shuffling of feet and an endless array of, “Thank yous” and “I don’t know what I’d do without you’s”  to know that Makoto was keeping up with him.

“You’d probably stay here to wait for the next train, and then end up with a stiff neck in the morning,” Sousuke said as he opened his umbrella again and the two of them walked down the street. “You’ll have to endure endless teasing in the hands of your little blond teammate.”

Makoto chuckled softly and nodded. “Ah, Nagisa kun would definitely tease me. But at least he won’t ask many questions…”

It was left unsaid.

But Sousuke raised an eyebrow at that. Won’t ask any questions huh? Also he found it a bit odd that Makoto wasn’t saying Nanase’s name the whole time they were together, it wasn’t Makoto being cautious, was it?

“He doesn’t know you’re here does he?”

“Nagisa doesn’t really need to …”

“You know who I mean Tachibana.”

There was a pause in Makoto’s step that Sousuke noticed enough for him to slow down just slightly. But not enough to stop.

For a while the only sound between them was the soft pitter patter of the rain on the asphalt and on the umbrella over their heads.

Sousuke was worried. Maybe he had crossed the line? Maybe it was a subject Makoto wouldn’t want to discuss with him? After all, they weren’t even considered friends, just acquaintances right? Rin was Makoto’s friend, and Nanase was his best friend. As far as Sousuke knew, he was just “Rin’s friend” to the Iwatobi boys.

“Haru…He …He shouldn’t know,” came the soft reply and it was Sousuke’s turn to make sure he didn’t act so surprised.

“Any reason why not? He’s your best friend isn’t he?”

In his peripheral vision he was Makoto nibbling his lower lip some more, perhaps debating whether or not he should tell Sousuke.

“You don’t have to tell, I don’t want to pry. Just curious is all. You two seem to be connected by the hip so I was wondering why you were here on your own.”

Sousuke rounded a corner and lead Makoto into one of the taller apartment buildings.

“You… you live here?” Makoto asked as he followed Sousuke into the elevator, the topic about Nanase seemingly forgotten.

“No, I don’t,” Sousuke said as he pressed the floor number. The worried look on Makoto’s face from earlier quickly replaced by an interesting pout that Sousuke really shouldn’t find cute. But it was, undoubtedly, cute.

“Relax, I’m kidding,” Sousuke said with a small half smile, that was usually only reserved for Rin and Gou. But he couldn’t help it. Makoto was so easy to tease.

The pout only got bigger and even cuter, if that was even possible.

“Mou!”

Sousuke ignored it and led Makoto out of the elevator when they reached his floor. “No one’s home, so don’t be a stranger,” he said as he took out his keys and opened the front door for Makoto.

“Sorry for the intrusion,” Makoto said, polite as ever, as he took his shoes off at the genkan.

Sousuke regarded him with a look. “No one’s home.”

Makoto leaned over, aligned his shoes properly, then stood up and smiled at Sousuke with the brightest smile ever.

“It still pays to be polite.”

 “Fine,” Sousuke said as he passed Makoto, a small smile on his lips that Makoto wouldn’t see.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really inspired to write about this pair again ^^ thank you to those few who stayed on it despite me disappearing and not updating for more than a year ;A; Hopefully I'll be updating more often now if work permits

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

The night was chilly and the rain wouldn’t stop pouring. That was the least of Makoto’s worries tonight however.

 

His biggest problem for the time being was…..

 

“Are you ever getting out of the bathroom?”

 

Was that.

 

Sousuke wasn’t Haru. He thought they were similar at first, but Sousuke pressed Makoto’s buttons more than Haru did.

 

Now that Makoto thought about it, it seemed that the only similar thing they had was the quiet aloofness they had when you first meet them.

 

He really thought they were alike. But Haru would never ever tease Makoto, not in the same way that Sousuke was doing now.  Haru surely never pestered him to exit the bathroom every time he used it.

 

“Coming!”

 

Even through the door, he could hear an amused scoff and he could clearly imagine Sousuke smirking.

 

“Mou, Yamazaki kun!” Makoto grumbled as he grabbed the shirt Sousuke had prepared for him and put it on.

 

The reason he was taking a while was because he was second guessing himself. Was it really ok that he was crashing here for the night? Was he not being an unwanted presence here for Sousuke? Was the other boy just being really polite, probably doing this so that one of RIn’s friends wasn’t left in the rain? Would he have done the same for Nagisa if Nagisa was the one he met in the train? Would he have….

 

Makoto never got to finish his train of thought because a low baritone “I need to use the bathroom and you were taking forever” distracted him.

 

He was so lost in his train of thought that he didn’t notice Sousuke had entered the bathroom. How, he wasn’t sure because he knew he locked the door but Sousuke had gotten in. He wouldn’t have used the key would he?

 

“You think too much.”

 

“Eh?”

 

Makoto blinked and looked at Sousuke who was grabbing a couple of towels and hanging them on to the racks.

 

“I don’t usually barge in on people when they use the bathroom, but I do when they leave the door unlocked and when they start over thinking. Rin does the same thing you know?” Sousuke said, his back to Makoto but Makoto knew he was talking to him and not to himself.

 

“Yeah Rin kun does that a lot,” Makoto said softly as he folded the sleeves of the shirt a bit. It was slightly bigger, showing that Sousuke had a larger frame and longer arms than he did. But it was comfortable.

 

“He told me the same about you,” Sousuke said softly as he finally turned around and smiled at other boy. “Good, my clothes fit you. You can borrow those for now.”

 

Makoto shook his head. “They’re slightly bigger, but I’m not…”

 

“Are you complaining?” Sousuke asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

“No!” Makoto gasped, raising his arms and waving them around. “I’m not complaining! I’m very thankful! You let me stay then you lend me your clothes and then you…!”

 

Again, for the nth time that day Sousuke interrupted Makoto, this time it was with a soft laugh that startled even Makoto. He had never heard Sousuke laugh before, and even if it was at his expense, he realized that laughter was a sound that fit the taller boy so much more than the somber air he carried around himself.

 

“You are so easy to rile up, you know that? I was only teasing.” Sousuke reached out and ruffled Makoto’s hair. “Anyways, if you’re done using the bathroom, come to the kitchen. I heated some pizza, we can have that for dinner,” he said as he closed the door of the bathroom behind him, leaving Makoto to his thoughts again.

 

Makoto was left starting at the closed door, hand moving up to his hair, to the same spot that Sousuke just touched.

 

How long has it been since anyone did that to him? To be honest, he was way too tall compared to the rest of his peers. It would be strange to have someone ruffle his hair when they were shorter than he was. He would do the same for his younger brother and sister, sometimes to Nagisa or Haru, but it had been forever since anyone did that for him because of the awkwardness his height presented for that action.

 

Then here comes Sousuke, who was taller than him, built bigger than him… “It’s a nice change,” he chuckled softly to himself as he finally dragged himself out of the bathroom and followed Sousuke to the kitchen.

 

“Eating pizza will do wonders to your diet,” Makoto said as he entered the kitchen.

 

He looked around and smiled fondly. The kitchen looked really clean and well kept. Sousuke’s mother kept the kitchen very clean and obviously very organized.

 

“I can’t cook to save my life,” Sousuke muttered from his position by the microwave. He was leaning back on the counter, just waiting for the timer on the microwave to go off.

 

“Your mom obviously cooks,” Makoto observed as he placed his hand on the refrigerator handle. “May I?”

 

Sousuke shrugged and let Makoto do as he wanted.

 

Makoto opened the fridge and a wide smile spread across his lips. “I’m sure your mom would rather you eat healthy you know. Or else she wouldn’t have stocked the fridge with so much vegetables,” he chuckled as he took out some lettuce and garlic. He took out some shrimp as well and some olive oil.

 

He placed the selected food on the counter and was about to take out the pans, but hesitated. “I hope she won’t mind me using the kitchen…”

 

Sousuke sighed and grabbed one of the aprons from the cupboard. He handed it to Makoto and shrugged. “I feel like a terrible host and I should be making you dinner. But I’d much rather make sure I don’t burn down her kitchen. You cooking, on the other hand, I’m sure she won’t mind. You seem to know what you’re doing and won’t burn down the kitchen like her son would.”

 

Makoto chuckled and put the apron over his head, and tied the knot behind him to secure it. “I only learned how to cook because I take care of my younger siblings and …. “  Haru.

 

“You have siblings?”

 

“Yeah, twins. One boy and one girl.” Makoto nodded and turned his attention back to the food.

 

Sousuke went back to lean against the counter, smirk on his lips once more. “Wow, twins huh? They’re lucky to have such a caring and responsible older brother like you.”

 

Makoto turned on the fire and focused on the task at hand. But he really couldn’t help the smile forming on his lips.

 

He came to Tokyo to check out the university, and possibly try to find a life away from his best friend. He’d never known life away from Haru, they were inseparable since they became friends.  It was terrifying doing all this on his own, and without Haru.

 

But with Sousuke here, it didn’t seem so bad.


	5. Chapter 5

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Tell you what Haru?’

 

“Tch….”

 

“Haru?”

 

“…”

 

“Haru why…? Why are you getting mad?”

 

“Oi.”

 

Wait, that wasn’t Haru. Haru’s voice wasn’t that gruff, it wasn’t that low either.

 

“Oi Makoto!”

 

Makoto blinked his eyes blearily as dream and reality still meshed together and he had to find his bearings.

 

He was in Tokyo, stranded here for another day because of problems with the bullet train. He was spending the night at… wait, that voice, that’s why it was so familiar.

 

“Ya… Yamazaki kun?!”

 

Makoto’s eyes snapped open and he found himself looking up at Yamazaki Sousuke, who was standing by his bed, expression difficult to discern from Makoto’s vantage point. But he could guess that Sousuke was wearing a bored expression.

 

“Don’t sound like you just saw a ghost.”

 

“Sorry,” Makoto mumbled. He had just screamed Sousuke’s name hadn’t he?

 

Sousuke moved to scratch his head. “Don’t apologize, I was just teasing.”

 

Makoto blushed slightly and strained his head slightly to look at the couch where Sousuke spent the night. Makoto didn’t want to spend the night on his host’s bed, but Sousuke had insisted. Sousuke said he didn’t want to be a bad host to Makoto by making his guest sleep on the couch.

 

Makoto put up a fight last night though, he didn’t want to take Sousuke’s bed. But Sousuke had responded by basically staking claim of the couch when Makoto went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Makoto had tried to get Sousuke off the couch but the latter wouldn’t budge, so Makoto had no choice but to sleep on the bed of his host.

 

“You shouldn’t have slept on the couch,” he murmured.

 

Sousuke responded with a sigh, and a “You’ll never let that go huh?”

 

“No,” Makoto said. He wasn’t upset though, in fact, a small playful smile began to form on his lips as he looked up at Sousuke to get a better view of his reactions. “I feel bad. I feel like I should make you a bento sometime to make up for it.”

 

“There’s no need,” Sousuke muttered gruffly, as he scratched the back of his head again.

 

“I insist,” Makoto said as he finally moved. He rolled onto his back and finally sat up on the bed, giving Sousuke a big bright smile. Sousuke had left him without a choice last night, he would do the same this time around.

 

Sousuke looked down at him and Makoto knew he had won this round. Sousuke’s expression was definitely not indifferent anymore. It was a slightly annoyed look and Makoto was just glad he had gotten a reaction from the other.

 

“You really don’t have to, it’s such a hassle.”

 

“I do it all the time for… for my siblings. It’s fine!”

 

For Haru, I do it all the time for Haru, Makoto almost said but he caught himself before he could let it slip.

 

Sousuke sighed and shrugged. “Whatever,” he muttered as he turned around and walked to the door. He placed his hand on the door knob, and if only he wasn’t facing away, Makoto would have seen the small smirk on his lips.

 

“By the way, your train leaves in thirty minutes. So you better get a move on sleeping beauty,” he said as he finally turned the knob and exited the room, leaving Makoto with a very incredulous expression as he processed what Sousuke had said.

 

“Wait … my train… OH MY GOD!”

 

 

 

*

 

 

 

“You’re still pouting.”

 

“No I am not.”

 

“You look like your team’s blondie right now.”

 

“I do not look like Nagisa!”

 

“….”

 

“Mouuuuuu.”

 

Sousuke looked at the man beside him on the platform and he had to stifle a laugh. Makoto had a huge pout on his lips, it was the most adorable thing he has ever seen. To be honest, he’s always thought that the blond… what was his name again? Na… Na something, was loud and annoying. He wasn’t particularly fond of him.

 

Well he wasn’t particularly fond of anyone who was Nanase’s friend. But to be honest, he had wanted to be Makoto’s friend since he laid eyes on him back in elementary school. But Makoto becoming Nanase’s friend put a quick damper to that wish.

 

So yes, comparing him to that annoying blond was probably a bad idea but it didn’t look like Makoto minded it completely.

 

He was really glad he ran into Makoto on this quick trip to Tokyo. He would probably run into him when they both went back to Iwatobi.

 

“Your hair is sticking out in all directions,” he pointed out to Makoto.

 

“It wouldn’t be if you had woken me up sooner!”

 

Sousuke pointedly raised an eyebrow at that retort. “I tried waking you up three times before that,” Sousuke lied.

 

“I’m not a heavy sleeper!” The pout just seemed to become bigger, his lower lip jutting out more. In hindsight, Makoto would realize he was accusing Sousuke of being a liar, and he would feel bad about it but he really wasn’t that far from the truth.

 

“Suit yourself.” Sousuke said, not admitting to his lie. Because really, that pout suited Makoto. While Sousuke particularly didn’t enjoy annoying people, he also didn’t like it when they were putting up a front to hide what they were really feeling. So while a smiling Makoto was ideal, a pouting Makoto just felt more honest.

 

He didn’t wake Makoto up for the simple reason that

 

It was a lie and Sousuke knew it. He didn’t wake Makoto for the simple reason that he couldn’t. Makoto looked so peaceful in his sleep and Sousuke satisfied himself with just watching the other on his bed like that. But it didn’t stay that way, unfortunately. Soon Makoto was tossing and turning and mumbling incoherent words in his sleep. Worried, Sousuke finally shook Makoto’s shoulder and woke up the other boy from what seemed to be a bad dream.

“Makoto!” he had called him , instead of the usual Tachibana because of his panic. The boy was asleep, he wouldn’t have heard.

Sousuke was sure the nightmare was a result of a lot of things on Makoto’s mind. He didn’t need to guess. There was university, his current exams, and ultimately moving to Tokyo if he did get accepted here. Makoto was a country boy, that much was obvious.

But Sousuke would bet that the biggest thing on Makoto’s mind right now as Haru. It pissed Sousuke off to no end how that selfish prick could get so many good people wrapped around his little finger. First it was Rin and now it was Makoto. Ok so maybe Makoto was first, but Sousuke didn’t really know him that well to care.

 

Spending the past few hours with the olive haired boy convinced Sousuke that he was a really good guy. How Haru had gotten him so enamored was something Sousuke could not understand.

 Even now he was protecting Haru. For what reason Sousuke had no reason. Over the course of a day, or even less, he had lost count how many times Makoto had referred to his siblings. There was nothing wrong there. Except when Makoto would fall silent, and then hurriedly say his siblings. Sousuke’s gut told him that Makoto was really referring to Haru.

Makoto was an honest boy. So when he lied it was very very easy to see even if Sousuke didn’t know him that well.

“Nee Yamazaki kun.”

 

Sousuke’s attention snapped back to the boy standing beside him. The pout from earlier was gone, and Sousuke admittedly kind of missed it already. It wasn’t that he liked making Makoto angry. It was just nice to see another reaction on him that wasn’t either panicked or happy.

 

“What is it?” Sousuke asked.

 

Makoto took a deep breath, as if weighing his words, before continuing. “About this… can you keep this a secret?”

 

Ah here it comes. He probably didn’t want Haru to know that he was hanging out with Sousuke of all people. He was kind of expecting this really.

 

“It’s alright, we can go back to non-speaking terms if you don’t want other people to find out that we’re kind of friends….”

 

“That’s not it!” Makoto interrupted.

 

Sousuke raised an eyebrow and let Makoto continue.

 

“I don’t want people finding out that I’m looking at universities in Tokyo… and,” Makoto’s cheeks started to turn pink, and honestly that was the cutest thing Sousuke has ever seen, which it shouldn’t because Makoto was a huge boy who was almost as big as he was.

 

Makoto turned his head slightly and looked at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet. “ I do consider you my friend,” he added, wringing his hands together.

 

Honestly, this boy was too much.

 

Sousuke reached out and ruffled the olive green hair. Sousuke wasn’t a particularly touchy feely person, but it felt like the right thing to do given the situation. Never mind that it looked really weird because Makoto was the same height and build that he was. He just felt like he needed to somehow comfort the other boy despite there being no real connection between the two of them.

 

“I don’t mind. It’s going to be our little secret,” he said as he placed his hand on the olive green locks.

 

He didn’t know what kind of reaction he was expecting really. Makoto did flinch slightly when he felt Sousuke’s hand in his hair. Then he lifted his face up to look at Sousuke and Sousuke had to do a double take.

 

Makoto looked happy. His smile was small, compared to when Sousuke usually saw him. But it was there, and his eyes were happy. Sousuke didn’t know how he could tell that the other boy was happy, he just did.

 

And damn well he was proud that he was the source of that small smile.

 

But somehow he knew he could make it bigger.

 

“Give me your phone,” Sousuke said gruffly.

 

Makoto blinked in response and didn’t really understand the demand. It sounded more like a demand rather than a request when Sousuke said it that way.

 

Sousuke raised his eyebrow at Makoto’s lack of response. He had to spell it out then. “You wanted to make me bento right? Giving you my number so we can stay in touch.”

 

Makoto’s response to that made Sousuke realize that maybe this trip to Tokyo and his physician was the best one yet.

 

Makoto’s olive green eyes widened and Sousuke could swear he could see sparkles. His lips turned into a huge “Oh” and then quickly morphed into the widest smile Sousuke could ever imagine on a person. Makoto fumbled with his phone, almost dropping it but catching it on time.

 

Sousuke chuckled and took his phone. He encoded his number just as Makoto’s train pulled up at the platform.

 

Sousuke handed it back to the other boy and Makoto thanked him again and again and again that Sousuke was afraid he would miss his train again. “Keep apologizing and you’ll miss your train again,” he teased.

 

Makoto blushed promptly and pocketed his phone quickly. “Thank you for everything Yamazaki kun,” Makoto said quickly.

 

“No worries. See you in Iwatobi,” Sousuke said easily as Makoto made his way to his train.

 

Truly, for the first time, Sousuke was truly thankful he came to Tokyo to see his therapist. His rehab was no where near completion and his condition was no where close to improving, but he had somehow made a new friend and he was glad he did.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delays! My life is super hectic right now with work, cosplay, and merch making so I"m terribly sorry the updates take forever. But I'm trying my best! 
> 
> Thank you to the people who read this and I hope you enjoy this new chapter <3


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